✧The Earthe of the Elves✧

34

Mia's POV

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The smell of baking bread wafts into my room as I slowly wake up, yawning and running a hand through my hair. I let out a tired but rested sigh. Breathing in the warm smell of cooking dough, I smile a little.

Yesterday Rose told me she would have everything put together, so today I can rest. Essentially, today is a day off. The calm before the storm, I guess. I told Elanil I would spend the day with her, which I'm excited about. It's going to be nice to spend some quality time with her besides training.

For old times sake, as a funny thing I guess, I wear the green dress I got at Keya's dress shop the first day I was here, making sure to drop an ember stone in my pocket. I love the dress, and thought it would be a nice, poetic justice- is that the word?- to wear it on the day I leave Earthe. Not that I won't be coming back- or will- I don't know. That doesn't matter.

I meet El in the middle of a path, a few miles away from the castle. She's wearing a bright red dress, which is a bright color for elves, and waves at me with a big smile. I smile and walk over.

"Your dress is so pretty!" I remark. The color really stands out, and pairs beautifully with the delicate gold patterns here and there on the skirt, hems, and cuffs of the sleeves.

"Thank you," she says, "awh, is that your first dress?"

"Yeah," I laugh. El nods, smiling. I look around.

"So, what do you want to do?"

El wiggles her eyebrows and grabs my hand, walking briskly down the path, turning right onto a path of more secluded big trees, mostly plain except for the almost invisible doors leading to whatever shop or business is inside. Then, without warning, El lets go of my hand and jumps, grabbing a low-hanging branch and pulling herself up into the nearest humongous tree. That branch, which I'm assuming is one of the smaller ones, is big enough to have two feet side by side on when you stand on top. With a determined smile I jump and pull myself up after her, once again surprised by how agile my half-elf side has made me. I easily swing up branch after branch, following El into the bare tree, towards the warm, morning sunlight. I use one hand to swing myself up onto the branch where Elanil has stopped.

We are standing on a branch wider than a sidewalk and long enough that I can pace a multiple feet forward before it gets pretty thin. Growing out from the tree's trunk, running parallel to the branch, is a table, the top a flat, smooth wooden surface. Two bulky yet elegant wooden chairs sit on either side of the table.

The view is amazing, looking out over the sparkling snow and other trees. Sunlight peeks through behind me, striking past the bare branches and hitting the ground below, making the snow shimmer and the paths dot with light.

"Pretty," I remark, moving to take a seat across from Elanil. The minute I sit down El pulls out a deck of cards.

"What?" I laugh, confused by the very human-made deck of cards in her hands. El laughs, pulling out the cards and shuffling them better than I've seen anyone shuffle a deck of cards. Of course, for her, it's just how she moves.

"I thought we could play a human game, since they do games instead of battle."

"What, you don't play games here?"

"Sure we do. I'll play cards, then we can play an elven board game. So, teach me how to play War. I heard about that one."

"Of course you choose war," I say with a joking eye roll. El bats my arm with the deck of cards.

"That's the first one that came to mind. Unless you can teach me to play... Rug- no- Rummy. That one."

"No, I don't know how to play Rummy. Ok, I'll teach you how to play war."